There’s something in the water off a small Newfoundland town. Whatever it is, it’s too late to pretend otherwise. That’s the whole, unsettling premise Netflix is banking on with ‘BELOW’ a series based on the oldest fear a coastal community can have: the sea you’ve trusted your whole life is turning into the thing that’s hunting you. It’s dark, it’s foreboding, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most anticipated fall releases on the platform.
What Netflix’s BELOW Is About
Calvin Penney (Josh Hartnett) is a fisherman with a big heart and a stubborn streak who lives in a small town in Newfoundland still haunted by the mysterious death of his father decades earlier.
But when an unknown sea creature begins to terrorize the community, Calvin must battle to protect his family and the entire way of life in his town, a way of life that was already quietly disappearing before anything began to attack from the water. He joins forces with visiting marine researcher Fonda Howander (Mackenzie Davis) to face the creature and uncover secrets about the island and his father’s death, while trying to protect his son Wade (Charlie Heaton) and the rest of his family.
The Cast
Josh Hartnett stars as Calvin and also serves as executive producer on the series. Charlie Heaton plays his son Wade and Mackenzie Davis is Fonda, the marine researcher who gets swept up in the growing crisis in the town. The cast also includes Natasha Henstridge, Joshua Close, Rohan Campbell, Willow Kean, Ruby Stokes and Kaleb Horn.
Time Period and Setting
Set in the present day, in a small, remote fishing community in Newfoundland, the series is as much defined by its remoteness and decline of traditional way of life as by the mystery it holds in its waters.
Genre & Mood
It’s a combination of creature-feature horror and slow-burn mystery and is often described as a cross between Jaws and supernatural dread. Initial reactions to the trailer are that it’s dark, ominous and genuinely creepy, and uses its isolated setting to build tension as much through atmosphere as through the threat itself.
The Creators and The Production Background
The show was created, written and showrun by Jesse McKeown, whose previous credits include The Umbrella Academy and the Canadian series 19-2. Other writers include Karen Walton, Perry Chafe and Natty Zavitz, with Jamie Childs, Helen Shaver and Stephen Dunn sharing directing duties. In February 2025, Netflix ordered a six-episode limited series to be produced by Pacesetter Productions. Filmed on location in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada from July through October 2025.
Release Details
BELOW will debut globally on Netflix on Thursday, October 8, 2026, with all six episodes. Prior to that release, the series will debut as the Primetime Opening Night selection at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival, a notably prestigious slot for a genre series.
Interesting Facts
Before BELOW had a title, it was known in development simply as the “Untitled Jesse McKeown Series” a placeholder that gave away nothing about the creature story to come. Hartnett not only stars in the series, but he also is an executive producer, giving him a hand in shaping the project beyond his performance. And instead of constructing its remote fishing town on a soundstage, the production shot entirely on location in Newfoundland and Labrador, lending the show’s remote, weather-beaten setting a genuine, lived-in authenticity that’s difficult to fake.
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Final Thoughts
The ingredients for a real event series are all here: a proven, well-respected lead in Josh Hartnett, a story that roots its creature-horror in real grief and real stakes for the community, a filming location doing as much storytelling as the script, and a prestige festival premiere to back up the hype.
It’s the sort of series for those who want their horror atmospheric, patient, and actually unsettling rather than just loud. If the opening warning of the trailer is anything to go by, BELOW doesn’t want to ease you into its mystery, it wants you uneasy from the first frame and it’s more than happy to keep you that way for six episodes.
BELOW will premiere globally on Netflix on October 8, 2026.
